Table Number Five
by AzraelEternity
Summary: The Bebop crew take a relaxing day off after cashing in a big bounty and kick back at a casino on Ganymede. But what happens when someone takes aim at Faye? Will this new bounty be worth their trouble?


Table Number 5: The Bebop crew take a relaxing day off after cashing in a big bounty and kick back at a casino on Ganymede. But what happens when someone takes aim at Faye? Will this new bounty be worth their trouble?  
  
The Bebop landed in the waters of Ganymede with a booming splash as the hull struck the water. Despite all the trouble the crew had faced after pulling in Amir Takel-il-Har, a bounty head worth 6,000,000 that put them through way too much trouble. The Swordfish was busted up pretty badly and Faye's zip-craft didn't fare so wear either. But now that the head and been turned in, it was time to relax for once. The crew had been without food for a week or so, except for some items found the storeroom refrigerator, none of which were particularly filling for any of them.  
After the bounty was split up, each person wandered and did what they pleased, and what they pleased was eating vast amounts of food. All-you-can- eat buffets, mounds and mounds piled high, plate after plate; they stuffed their faces with as much food as inhumanly possible. Thankfully the casino included a kennel, which reluctantly Ein stayed in without much disruption.  
Once their now-bloated stomachs were content, Faye, Spike and Jet all went their separate ways. Ed, being her unusual self, hung around the kennel with Ein, keeping herself entertained. Faye, an experienced blackjack player, played to her hearts content, using whatever tricks she could to make a profit. Spike enjoyed the social experience of entertaining a few elderly gentlemen with his skill at five-card draw and Texas Hold 'Em at the poker tables. Jet, whom honed his incredible skill of putting in money, pulling a level and making the money disappear, was busy playing the slot machines. "Enough money put in and it'll cash out big time." Jet was usually right about these things and Spike learned never to try and convince him otherwise.  
Faye was sitting at her table occupied by a dealer whose nametag Faye couldn't see because of a glare from a light above them, and two other gentlemen whose names didn't matter. They were playing their game against the dealer and she was playing hers.  
"Miss has nineteen."  
"Hit me..."  
"Miss, you have nineteen."  
"If I wanted your opinion..."  
"Very well miss." The dealer flipped the next card, a two of diamonds. "Miss has twenty-one. Dealer has twenty. Well played." The dealer pushed over the stack of money that Faye had one and she placed a slightly larger amount out to bet for the next hand. In a few hours she would have amassed a large enough fortune to buy fix her zip-craft, not to mention buy the place that fixed it, their supplier, and so on up the chain.  
  
Spike, knowing that his luck wouldn't run out anytime soon was busy on his own, swindling the players around him for all they had. Since casinos did not allow players to touch the decks as a whole, Spike was playing on sheer luck. No one in the place thought he was playing legit, but he was. He was a real cool ace. He had won nearly every hand and his winnings had nearly doubled. But he had lost the last three hands, which Spike declared a cold table. He gathering his earnings and moved to another table. This one had a female dealer and two men that appeared to be high rollers as they both had well-sized entourages. Spike sat down with his pile and waited patiently. He wasn't going to jump in yet. Spike enjoyed watching other people play to see how they reacted to bad hands, how they showed off a good hand, what the people in their followings did in each situation. Simply said, Spike was figuring out the two men's tells, what gives them away when they play. Amazingly neither of them had discovered the others tells yet, so this was a social game for them. Both were not playing to amass any money, it was pocket change for them. Spike decided to lighten their pockets.  
"A new player has joined the game..."  
"Deal the cards."  
"Very well, sir."  
The two men eyed Spike at the same time. Spike had already sized them up by simply sitting out. They could tell he knew something and played accordingly. Though they were rich snobs, both knew that Spike had been watching them for a reason.  
Spike was first to be dealt to, a fair hand. Two six's with an ace, queen and four. "I'll take two." He threw the two cards in front of the dealer and was dealt two new cards: two more aces. Spike sighed and his head drooped. He made awkward faces as if he weren't sure what he had. The two men obviously weren't very bright.  
"Dealer, one card," said the first man. Spike wasn't sure if he was trying to bluff that all he needed was one card but he shrugged it off. The other man took two cards and showed them to the group gathered behind them, all of whom "ooh" and "aah" at the hand he held.  
"Place your bets, gentlemen," the dealer chimed. Spike opened with twenty grand. He had over two million so this was a smaller dip into the pool, trying to pull down some big money from the others. They took the bait.  
"I'll call, and raise eighty thousand." The first man that took one card grinned widely at Spike. A meager bet in all their eyes. The man was trying to lure Spike out. The second man raised another one hundred grand. Spike called, and raised fifty thou. The first player had an ear-to-ear smile as he thought his ploy was working and raised another fifty thousand. The pot was at six hundred and fifty thousand and still had the second man to place his bet. The circle continued with Spike slowly raising the single pot to well over two million, a third of it his. Finally all of them called with the pot topping off at two million, six hundred and fifty thousand.  
"Gentlemen, bets are off. Please reveal your hands."  
Spike was supposed to go first since he was dealt to first, but the second man went instead and the circle went backwards. The second man had three queens with an ace and a two. "Three queens, ace high."  
The first man nodded in contempt, and revealed his. He had three kings with two jacks. Everyone from the second mans group groaned as their idol had fallen. Spike looked from his cards to the first mans several times, sighed and put down his hand.  
"These three aces aren't much, but I think with the two sixes I might have something." Spike was a cool ace. He pulled in the pot and grinned innocently like he didn't know what he was doing and was playing on dumb luck. That was half-right.  
  
Ed and Ein were nearly inseparable since they had met. Both, unbeknownst to the entire crew, were intelligent, and extremely capable hackers. Ed had been given a modest amount of money to do what she deemed worthy. They figured it would be a good idea not to give all of her share to her because only God knew what that kid would spend it on. After Ein had been "liberated" from the kennel they walked around outside the casino down the streets of the town, peering into shops and looking around stalls that littered the streets. Suddenly nothing looked familiar to Ed. She spun around looking to where they had come from but to no avail.  
"I do believe Mr. President that we have nothing to fear but pixies and rodents." Ed was being the only person she could be and that was herself. A few shining items caught her eye but she was smarter than to buy anything from a street market.  
"Ein, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..." Ed and Ein were lost in the market. They had walked for about two miles and could no longer see the casino from where they were. The lost girl tried to ask for directions back but most people ignored her or gave some snide remark about her being too young to gamble or something like that. Her communicator was still on the Bebop and there weren't any payphones in this area.  
  
A tall man walked into the casino. He was dressed in the uniform of the casino personnel and walked around as if he had a thousand times. A stolen clearance card got him into the gates and down to the staff lounge where several other employees were sitting. He grabbed a random punch card of someone that hadn't clocked in yet and got it punched, replaced it into a holder, grabbed a bottle of water and left.  
"Hey you!" Someone called after him as he walked back towards the casino floor. He slowly reached for the silenced pistol in his deep pockets as one of the workers walked up behind him and patted him on the shoulder. The gun was firmly gripped in his pocket as he turned around.  
"Yes?"  
"You the new guy?"  
"Umm...yeah. I just got here today."  
"Okay, well I'm supposed to show you around. I'm Karl. You'll be working the poker tables. I'm sure you already know how to play, and dealing is real simple. All you got to do is remain detached from the game and do as they ask." The two men walked down the hallway together and walked onto the floor. "What'd you say your name was?"  
"I didn't. It's..." The man tried to remember the name on the tag before it looked apparent that he didn't work there. He thought back a little ways because he remembered when he put the pin on the needle pricked his finger. "Jack. Jack Arnold."  
"Well its great meeting you Jack. Pit four is this way." The two men headed over to the poker tables just as Spike was cleaning up.  
  
"I'm telling you, he cheated." The first man was infuriated as he had just lost over twelve million to Spike total so far and they had played about six hands. The second man was fuming just as much.  
"I'm sorry, sirs, but no guest is allowed to touch the deck so he couldn't of tampered with it. And you suggested his malpractice several times already and we've had him be searched for anything that he could have used. This gentleman is simply playing better than you. Now if you wish you could simply play at another table if you find something wrong with this. It is gambling after all, sirs, and you can't always win."  
"Well neither can he!" The two men sat down determined to beat Spike at his own game. The game went on for another hand, then two other employees walked over. Obviously one of them was a trainee otherwise there wouldn't be two of them. The first one tapped his hand on the current dealers shoulder when the hand was over. The man rolled his sleeves and nodded to the three players. "Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure dealing for you. My shift is up, but I hope you stay to play and enjoy your stay."  
Spike rolled his eyes. He wouldn't leave, not with the two locals still fuming at his incredible roll of luck. He would probably throw a hand or two. Give them some false hope that they had a chance. Then he would just pull them all in and take them. It was going to be all too easy.  
  
"Alright, simple five-card draw. Deal them what they tell you to and make sure nobody tries anything shifty. From what I've heard this guy over here has been pulled into the back to be searched a few times because the other two suspected him of cheating. Nothing incriminating was discovered but keep an eye on him, alright?" Karl instructed. Jack nodded softly and approached the table, shuffling the cards a few times before Karl walked away. "Gentlemen, my name is Jack and I will be your dealer. The game is still five-card draw."  
  
The man named Jack Arnold was actually named Jeremiah Longstead, wanted for three murders on Mars. A professional assassin that had slipped up for the first time was now on the run from the police for over two weeks and had finally evaded them for the time being. The real Jack Arnold was floating with the fishes in the ocean, and his uniform was on a murderer's body.  
Jeremiah had watched the news the other day on some TVs in a shop window and found that a reward of nine million had been placed on his head; three million for each murder, and that would probably increase once they found out about Jack Arnold. Now he was on the run and had already received a new mission. His target was a woman named Faye Valentine. This was bad news because she was associated with a small group of bounty hunters, not to mention she was one herself. He wasn't sure if he could bring himself to kill a woman, even if she was a bounty hunter.  
  
"Umm...excuse me? Is this seat taken?" A woman had walked up to the table and was talking to the man suspected of cheating. It was her! The woman he was sent after: Faye Valentine. Thankfully she didn't know him and that gave him the advantage.  
"Not at all, make yourself comfortable."  
"Thanks. I'll join in next hand, dealer."  
Jeremiah nodded to her and was finishing up another hand between Spike and the two gentlemen. A balding man with a beard walked up to the table as well and sat down, placing a few boxes of coins next to him.  
"Dealer, I think I'll join in also. I got a lot of money to burn from winning those at those slots over there. Honestly, this place is better than most as far as getting a payoff on any of the machines here." Jet grinned because his slot machine philosophy had paid off once again.  
Again came a nod from Jeremiah as Spike started pulling the chips over to his seat after winning against the two men for another time. By this time the entourages from both of the gentlemen had moved over behind Spike, admiring his card-playing ability, but they quickly remembered where they came from when the two men left, as they all abandoned Spike to follow their leaders.  
  
Spike knew who the dealer was. It was habit for a bounty hunter to never turn off the TV show "Big Shots" when they were about to announce a bounty head, especially when the opening comment was "We got a big one for you bounty hunters today worth nine million!" Jeremiah Arnold was wanted for three known murders and was suspected to be a professional assassin. The crew was at the casino to relax after hauling in a large bounty but this guy was almost served to them on a silver platter.  
The casino, though, had a strict no-gun policy and checked all guests for any possible weapons, so Spike, Jet and Faye were all unarmed. The only problem was that only Spike had seen the episode of "Big Shots" so Jet and Faye were unaware of the situation that Spike held. Amazingly the assassin bypassed the security systems by dressing as an employee. Spike assumed the owner of the uniform was dead and that Jeremiah was armed as well. He would have to sit around until an opportunity came up that he could inform his crewmates.  
  
"Man, sitting around for such a long period of time isn't good for a guys health." Jet was speaking about sitting on the barstool-type seat at the slot machines and started heading for the bathroom.  
"Well, I'm gonna go get something to eat. I haven't had anything since I started playing against those two." Spike headed over towards one of the restaurants in the casino and was soon out of sight, leaving Faye and "Jack" alone at table number five, pit four. This would be a perfect time to complete his mission, except Faye was already leaving as well. The table was empty and she needed to find someone to help her add a few zeros to her checkbook.  
"Excuse me, miss? I just received a request that I escort you downstairs. There are some people there that would like to talk to you." Jeremiah needed to get Faye out of public view. The idea simply popped in his head in a moment and was out the next.  
"Tell them if they want me they can come get me." Faye turned her nose up and walked away with her money.  
Jeremiah walked up behind Faye with his gun out held under a rack of chips. "Miss, your presence is required downstairs."  
Faye turned her head to look into the man's eyes calmly. "Alright, where to?"  
  
Spike met up with Jet outside the bathroom after grabbing a quick bite to eat. "Guess who our dealer is?"  
"He said Jack Arnold. I'm gonna guess that's bogus, right?"  
"His name is Jeremiah Longstead, an assassin worth nine million."  
"Nine million, huh? Pretty hefty price for a hired gun. You think he's here on business or hiding out?"  
"I couldn't say, but we better talk to Faye and make sure she knows."  
"Right, let's spilt up. You head back to the table and I'll see if I can get some more information about this guy."  
  
"So who is it, exactly, that wants to see me?" Faye was walking down a lightly colored hallway underneath the main floor. She could feel the gun pressed against her back, and was sure that it was a silencer attached to the pistol.  
"Well, I lied about that. It's just me that needs to see you. It appears that there are a few debts that were left unpaid and the collectors are tired of waiting." Jeremiah spoke softly as they walked. He was trying to find a broom closet or something that he could stash the body in. She was compliant but he was told not to underestimate her.  
"So this is professional, not personal?"  
"This is the first time I've met you, so yes, it's professional. I'm getting paid a pretty penny to take you out."  
"How much?"  
"Huh?" Jeremiah wasn't expecting that one. "Umm...eight hundred thousand."  
"I'll pay you two million to turn around and walk away right now, how about it?"  
"What do you mean? You telling me to turn on my bosses?"  
"No, I'm asking you to simply take my two million, go back to your boss and tell him the jobs done, then you get another eight hundred grand from them, more than three times what you would get if you just kill me."  
"Tempting, but suppose my boss finds out you aren't dead? What then?"  
"You'll have enough money. High-tail it out of there and you're scot- free."  
"You got all the angles covered, don't you?"  
"Sure do..." Faye turned quickly and used the heel of her hand to hit the gun barrel. Not suspecting this, Jeremiah instinctively fired twice before the gun flew from his hand and landed a few feet away, sliding on the floor. He dove for the gun, only to be stopped short by the three-inch heel on Faye's right shoe. She calmly bent over and picked up the gun and aimed it at Jeremiah's head and pulled out her radio.  
"Spike...Jet...either of you there?"  
"Yeah, what is it Faye?" Jet always sounded like Faye had been nagging him for the past two hours about something trivial whenever he answered her radio calls.  
"Have you guys ever seen this guy before?" Faye pointed the camera on the communicator at Jeremiah whom stupidly looked straight into it for a second before covering his head in his arms.  
"Don't know, didn't get a good look. Where are you?"  
"Somewhere underneath the casino floor. This guy tried to kill me."  
"What'd you do? Said 'no' for once?" Jet laughed to himself because he thought of Faye as a whore.  
"Very funny. Get down here." Faye clicked off the communicator and pulled up Jeremiah. "Now, nice and easy. Let's head back up to the main floor. My buddies will be waiting for us."  
Now it was Jeremiah's turn to be compliant. He was beaten by a woman that had caught him off-guard as he thought about having two-point-eight million woolongs in his name. They were right: don't underestimate her. She had also made that mistake.  
A small knife emerged from the long-sleeve jacket he was wearing and as quickly as it appeared it was flying at Faye's shoulder. Faye didn't react in time and was hit in her right shoulder with the small blade. While she could, she fired two shots at Jeremiah's leg, one hitting six inches below his knee in his calf. He winced but shook it off quickly and went for the gun, only to be stopped by Faye's right heel again. The blow to his chest knocked him off balance and a left cross knocked him to the floor.  
  
Jeremiah was still out cold when Jet and Spike showed up. He was out cold when they turned him into the police and got the nine million bounty. Faye got seven of the nine million, since she took on the assassin by herself. After cashing in the reward, cashing in their chips at the casino, and buying all the supplies they'd need for the next three months, the crew's total still sat well above sixteen million. They would be set for quite some time, as long as Faye and Spike didn't crash their ships for a while.  
  
As the ship took off of Ganymede the crew reveled in the silence that was held in the Bebop. The crew was now somewhat wealthy by bounty hunter standards, and was having a streak of good luck. Somehow the three of them thought that maybe something was going to go good in all of their lives.  
  
"BEEEE-BOP! WAIT FOR ED!" Ed yelled as the ship flew up out of the water of Ganymede. Thankfully the hacker never left anywhere without a few devices to aide her in any situation. The remote control she had used the first time their all had met still worked perfectly as the Bebop flew round and round until it landed back in the waters of Ganymede.  
  
The communicator on the computer in the living room beeped on with a large picture of Ed's face. "Bebop wouldn't forget Ed, now would they? Of course not, that's why Ed made sure they came back so they would remember poor poor Edward."  
Jet and Spike looked at each other then rested their heads on the couch. The duo remembered the things they hated: "Kids, animals, and women with attitudes."  
  
Until next time... See you, Space Cowboy... 


End file.
